Wayfarer

Chapter 642: The Heaven Division's Gate

In the Sieve of Heaven, within Xiao Nanfeng's manor, The Earth-division disciples stared at Xiao Nanfeng as though they were unwilling to see him go. One groused, "Division Leader, how could you become the Heaven division leader? What about the rest of us?"

Xiao Nanfeng smiled. "I might not be the Earth division leader any longer, but I'm happy to help if there's anything you need. What's more, Chang Bing was always the one responsible for your affairs. It's only natural that he would become the division leader instead."

"No matter what, you'll always be our division leader! Senior Brother Chang Bing can only be considered the vice-division leader at most," one Earth disciple exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng patted him on the shoulder. "All this is for the good of the Taiqing Immortal Sect. I might be the Heaven division leader now, but that doesn't mean I won't care about the Earth division. Dazheng has cleaned out countless spiritbeast lairs, and I'll need your help dealing with the spoils. I shall bequeath the Yin-Yang Cauldron to the Earth division as well. I ask for your continued support."

"Of course!" the Earth disciples chorused.

"In that case, I'll leave the rest to you. Chang Bing is waiting for you all at Yongding. Meet up with him. I've arranged for guards as well."

"Understood!" the Earth division disciples replied.

During their time with Xiao Nanfeng, the Earth disciples had quickly acknowledged his strength and wisdom. Their cultivation had risen sharply. If not for the fact that Xiao Nanfeng himself had chosen to take on the mantle of the Heaven division leader, they would have accepted no one else in his position, not even Chang Bing.

The Earth disciples scowled at the Heaven disciples, who were waiting close by, until Croak, Warble, and other Dazheng cultivators arrived to escort them away.

Then, Xiao Nanfeng turned to face the Heaven disciples arrayed before him.

"We greet the division leader," the Heaven disciples chorused, bowing.

Although Zhang Feifan had been beloved, they were excited for Xiao Nanfeng to serve as their new division leader. In Xiao Nanfeng's hands, the Mortal division had risen sharply in strength. In addition to the twelve golden cultivators of Ye Dafu's crew, there were more Immortals in the Mortal division than any other division to date.

The Earth division ranked second; in what little time had passed since Xiao Nanfeng took over the leadership of the Earth division, it had regained its former glory in forgecraft. The disciples of the other three divisions had been very envious.

Now that Xiao Nanfeng had taken over the Heaven division, perhaps it too could reclaim its former glory.

"The Heaven division has long been considered first and foremost among the Taiqing divisions. What secrets does it possess?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

He recalled that, when he first took over the Earth division, he had made a fool of himself by not knowing about the incredible forgecraft legacy the Earth division possessed.

Now that he was taking over the Heaven division, he certainly had to ensure that the same situation didn't happen again.

"Allow me to explain, division leader. I've been with Master perhaps the longest out of all of us here." A cultivator in white stepped forward.

Xiao Nanfeng knew of him: he was one of Zhang Feifan's prized disciples, Su Qing.

"Please go ahead, Junior Brother Su Qing."

"Those disciples intending to become part of the Heaven division are subject to a particularly demanding selection process. Not only must they have incredible potential and aptitude for cultivation, they must have perfect pitch."

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng replied curiously.

Many Heaven disciples cocked their heads curiously. They hadn't known of this fact themselves.

"This is because a secret technique passed down within the Heaven division requires perfect pitch to cultivate. Unfortunately, no one has had any success with it for the last thousand years." Su Qing smiled wryly.

"What sort of technique?"

"The Taiqing Grandmaster once manifested an article of natural law, which lies hidden deep within the red moon illusory realm. Learning this technique allows you to control the natural law of the red moon illusory realm via perfect pitch."

"Natural law!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Because no cultivator has been able to successfully cultivate that technique for the past millennium, it has remained a secret of our division. Even so, all of us senior members of the Heaven division have never dared to forget it. The crux to the secret lies in the Heaven division token."

Xiao Nanfeng retrieved the token of the Heaven division leader from Zhang Feifan's storage bangle.

The token was inscribed with a large number of arcane runes, and looked significantly different from the Earth and Mortal division tokens.

"These runes are the source of the technique, and can only be activated via special means," Su Qing explained.

"You do it," Xiao Nanfeng said, offering him the Heaven division token.

Su Qing hesitated. "You had better do it, Division Leader. After all, only division leaders have the right to use these tokens."

Xiao Nanfeng laughed. "It's hardly as if you're an outsider! Should I be worried that you're going to covet my position?"

The other disciples began to chuckle.

Su Qing blushed, bowed, and accepted the token.

He formed a few seals with his hand and motioned them into the Heaven division token, which began to vibrate and emit red light. A large red screen of light appeared before the gathered cultivators, filled with vibrating runes.

"This is...?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"This is the Heaven Division's Gate. Opening this gate and attuning to the article of natural law within allows for control of the red moon illusory realm."

"Open it, then."

Su Qing smiled wryly. "Master had me try in the past, but I've never been able to succeed. I know the secret technique, but no one in the past millennium has been able to use it properly."

"Where is it?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Su Qing handed over a jade tablet. "It's recorded here. Spiritual power is needed to open the gate."

Xiao Nanfeng scanned the jade tablet and realized the complexity of this secret technique. It contained abstruse elements of natural law that even he hadn't encountered to date.

"Has no one been able to open the gate in a millennium?" Xiao Nanfeng asked for confirmation.

"Quite a number of us core disciples have tried it, but we can't do it. The four division leaders of the past generation all failed, and even the sect master himself," Su Qing reported.

Xiao Nanfeng hesitated for a moment. "All of you will try it."

"Division Leader, this is the most crucial secret technique of the Heaven division. We've never passed it down to ordinary disciples before," Su Qing warned.

"To me, everyone here is a core disciple of the Heaven division. Don't worry. Everyone can give it a try," Xiao Nanfeng said.

All the Heaven disciples couldn't help but be grateful to Xiao Nanfeng for this opportunity. They stepped forward to peruse the technique.

"The Heaven division needs to rise rapidly. Who knows which of you might have the talent to succeed? Anyone who isn't an outsider can give it a try," Xiao Nanfeng said.

He had already checked the background of all the disciples gathered here several times, and was certain that they were all loyal to the sect. Otherwise, he would hardly have been so generous.

"Allow me," a volunteer stated.

She sat cross-legged in meditation and manifested a translucent red palm in accordance with the technique she had just learned. She slapped it against the Heaven Division's Gate.

The palm passed right through the gate as if it weren't present at all.

"Does this gate truly exist in reality? I can't touch it at all!" the cultivator exclaimed.

"Senior Sister, let me have a try!" another cultivator said.

The cultivators all tried to interact with the door via the secret technique, but none of them had had any success.

"Senior Brother Su, is this technique legitimate?" the cultivators asked.

"I'm certain it is. Despite having cultivated the Taiqing Yin Body, Master was unable to interact with the door himself. I don't know where the problem lies," Su Qing replied, sighing.

Xiao Nanfeng transformed into his yin body as he strode up to the gate.

Everyone quieted down and watched on with anticipation.

Xiao Nanfeng looked at the gate, made a set of specific seals with his hands following the technique, and then rapped on the door with a spiritual palm.

The Heaven Division's Gate vibrated.

"Division Leader Xiao—succeeded?" someone exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual power spread throughout the gate, which filled with silver light. A small slit appeared as the gate parted from the middle.

"That easily? How could it be?!" Su Qing exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng's seals were exactly the same as their own. They had all given it a try, but none of them had managed to succeed. How could Xiao Nanfeng have done so?

"Division Leader, you're incredible!"

"The Heaven Division's Gate is open! Could it have attuned to you, Division Leader?"

The Heaven disciples were all in an uproar.

Xiao Nanfeng, on the other hand, was frowning. How had he succeeded? The gate certainly hadn't attuned to him, or anything of the sort.

He suddenly glanced toward his hands.

"Could it be the source of my spiritual power?" Xiao Nanfeng wondered to himself. "I cultivate the Body of Yin, not the Shangqing, Taiqing, or Yuqing variants of spiritual cultivation. Could that be the key? That I can open this gate—the Taiqing Grandmaster isn't trying to trick me into a trap, is he?"

The disciples all cheered, but Xiao Nanfeng wasn't certain if he ought to interact with the gate at all.

Some snatches of chanting could be heard from beyond the gate.

The Heaven disciples all blinked and shook their heads, all having been caught off-guard.

"Loss chants!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

Death chants from his avatar's blue moon quickly permeated his main body's mindscape, waking him up.

However, the gathered disciples had all been struck by the effect.

"Who am I? What am I doing here?"

"I seem to have forgotten something..."

"I don't remember anything!"

The cultivators all looked around groggily.

Xiao Nanfeng shut the gates with a series of seals, following the secret technique he had just learned.

As the gate shut, the loss chants vanished.

The disciples finally managed to grasp a modicum of their memories as the remainder flooded back.

Quickly, they all recalled what had happened.

"This is incredible. These chants can make our enemies forget everything they know!"

"Can we really possess such power?"

"No wonder the Heaven division was first and foremost among the Taiqing divisions in the past. If we can use these chants well, we'd be invincible!"

"Incredible," Xiao Nanfeng murmured to himself. "I already control the death chants. With the loss chants as well..."